Improvement in bill-files



W. C. BUSSEY.

Bill-Files.

Patented Jan. 8,1878..

N FETER8, PHOTO LITHOGRAPM 1cm ED" j TAT- s A ENT or fice.

WILLIAM o. BUssEr, or sAuFRANorsoo', CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR DFONE- HALF rs nrerrr ro ANDREA oAMoNs, or" 'sA E PLACE.

I M PROVEMENT IN Bl LL-Fl LES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 198,968, dated January 8, 1878; application filed June 1, 18 77.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. BUssEY, of the city and county of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented an Improved Bill-File; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to certain improvements in that class of bill and paper files in which two upright wires are employed, one of which is longer than the other, and has its upper end bent in a semicircular form, so that its extremity will interlock with the upper end of the upright pointed clip-wire, thus forming a joint over which the papers or bills can be slipped and the joint displaced for convenience in removing any particular paper or bill in the file. I

My improvement consists in an arrangement for permitting of the alphabetical arrangement and indexing of the bills, all as hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawing, A is the base-block, to which the wires are secured separately. b is the upright pointed wire upon which the bills or other papers are strung.

The opposite wire or keeper 0 is longerthan the wire I), and has its lower end screwed into the block A, while its upper end is bent over in a semicircle, so that its extremity will interlock with the point of the wire I).

Heretofore a single length of wire has been bent to form these two parts of the file, and this wire was secured to the base. In that case, when the interlocked points were separated, the end of the wire 0 could only be moved to one side by springing or bending the wire, either of which methods was trouble some and destructive of the wire, but by using independent wires, and attaching them separately to the block, the wire or keeper C can be easily turned out of the way without bending or springing.

The point of thewire b I sharpen by fiat tening it on both sides in the manner of a wedge, and making a V-groove in it, while the end of the keeper-wire is flattened in an opposite direction, and also provided with a V-groove, so that when the two points are brought together they will interlock and form a joint which will be nearly of a size corre sponding with the size of the body of the wire, and thus present no catching points or obstruction to prevent or interfere with the free passage of the papers over the joint in passing them from one side of the wire to the other. At the same time this fiattened end furnishes an equally good point for penetrating the paper, and makes a long hole that will close up when the paper is removed. F is a button, which may be made of india rubber, cork, or other suitable material, which I place upon the upright portion of the keeper-wire c. This button is kept in place by friction, and can therefore be shifted up or down, as desired, for the purpose hereinafter specified. Upon the upright pointed wire I) I place as many thin metal strips or tags g as there are letters of the alphabet. The wire passes through a hole in one end of each metal strip, and the strips are long enough to project beyond the edge of any ordinary bill or paper which may be placed on the file. On the outer end of each of these strips I place one of the letters of the alphabet,consecutively, so as to provide an index to assist in pointing out the approximate locality of any bill or paper.

When a bill is to be placed upon the file, I first determine its alphabetical position. I then find the proper letter in the index, and, taking hold of the first index-plate above it, I transfer all the bills. and plates above it across the joint and over to the opposite side of the file, so that they will rest upon the button F. Their edges will thereby be prevented from resting upon the main file. I then disconnect the joint, turn the upper wire to one side, place the bill upon the file, again connect the joint, and transfer the top papers back to the place again.

This arrangement is very convenient, and

will save much time and annoyanceheretofore wire 0, substantially as and for the purpose experienced in hunting bills from a large file described.

and asserting them. In witnesss whereof Ihave hereunto set my Having thus described my invention, What hand and seal. I

I claim as new and desire to secure yLetters Patent 7 WILLIAM G. BUSSEY. [L. s.]

The metallic tags 9, alphabetically marked Witnesses:

and arranged, in combination with a bill-file OLWYN T. STACY,

consisting of the pivoted wire I) and keeper- FRANIQA. BRooKs. 

